Thursday, August 29, 2013

J/Teams Enjoy Brilliant Chester Race Week!

J/29 sailboats under spinnakerJ/120 BRILLIANCE Does it Again!
(Chester, Nova Scotia)- Competitors from across Canada and the Eastern Seaboard descended upon the picturesque fishing village of Chester, Nova Scotia for Canada’s largest keelboat regatta – Chester Race Week, sailed from August 14th to 17th.

Under variable conditions that included light air, fog and medium air with brilliant sunshine along with the 183' Fidelis anchored in the inner harbour in Chester, 133 yachts competed in this years running of Chester Race Week.

J/120 BRILLIANCE sailing upwind at Chester Race WeekRichard Calder's J/120 BRILLIANCE sailing from Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron completed her defense of the Alpha Distance 1 class championship at this years Chester Race Week posting a solid 1-1-1-4 scoreline in the 11 boat fleet. Sailing to a close second was Fred Smither's J/120 ADIOS skippered by Dwayne Smithers and in third was Chester YC's Dave Connolly onboard the J/111 STAMPEDER.

In Alpha Distance 2 division, Rod Johnstone's crew onboard J/35 JAI TU finished second ahead of RNSYS's Paul Rafuse J/109 WISC while fourth went to Rory MacDonald & Sean McDermott's J/105 MCMAC.  Meanwhile, in Alpha 1 class, Mark Surrette's J/111 BLAST finished second in class.

J/29 one-design sailboats startingThe J/29 one-design class winner was Andrew Child's SILVER WOMAN counting an astounding eight 1sts in nine races to count to dominate their class with a 14 pt win!  Second was a tough battle for two boats- J-ZEUS II9 and COLMONELL.  In the end, it was John Heseltine's J-ZEUS II9 with 24 pts taking the silver followed by the Christie Brothers's COLMONELL just one point back in third place.

Chester Race Week Gosling GirlsThe J/24 one-design class had a good turn-out, with eight boats sailing in a very competitive series.   Ultimately, RNSYS's Peter Wickwire onboard SUNNYVALE took the J/24 crown, but it was not an easy one to attain.  Nipping at their heels all regatta long was Ted Murphy's JUVENILE DELINQUENT from RNSYS, taking second place just 3 pts back.  Sailing brilliantly at times, but tossing a few discard races into the mix, was Greg Blunden's ADRENALINE RUSH-- too much Red Bull perhaps for these boys?  Their roller-coaster scoreline still enabled them to hang in for third overall.

In the Delta D1 Fleet, Lunenberg YC's Scott Covey took first place on the J/29 RUMBLE FISH while Colin Mann's Lunenberg YC team on the J/92 POOHSTICKS finished third. In the D2 class Chester YC's Sam Lamey sailed his J/27 INCORRIGIBLE into a hard-earned second place.    Sailing photo credits- Tim Wilkes (timwilkes.com) & Steve Jess (stevejess.com)   For more Chester Race Week sailing information